A pleasant surprise

So yesterday I am having a good day at work and when I return from lunch I find these. They were from my wonderful husband. I was like oh goodness what is he up to? I don't recall him ever sending me flowers. He corrected that last night saying he did when we were dating. Well it made my day and made me smile even when nobody was looking. He knows my favorite color is purple so he requested a variety of purple flowers....So sweet. He said he just wanted to do something nice for me.

Wow, I am super busy today. I am still in the mix of planning Ava's party. Today I hope to start cleaning my walls and preparing to paint the bedroom. Plus I have loads of laundry and of course a kid to take care of :) Ava's 1 year pictures were Wednesday. I hope to get an email tonight so I can begin the grueling process of choosing which ones to buy.

The Park

Do you want your camera case mom??

Playing with Kyndalls sweater

Today was suppose to be the prettiest and sunniest day of the week so we seized the day!! We went to the park and met some of our Friends. It was so gorgeous outside. I think every stay at home mom had the same idea. The park was the happening place to be today. I really enjoyed it despite the fact that the old man next to us was smoking and my child was just a few feet away from him. OR the fact that these young boys brought dogs inside the park where NO dogs are allowed. My friend and her boy are SCARED to death of dogs.....so he was clung to her the whole time. It felt great to feel the sun on my face. I was beginning to forget what it felt like.....then of course I am the one who would get burned from those 2-3 hours in the shade/sun. Ava is exhausted and napping. I plan to walk in a while. I can't wait to get back on a walking routing. It makes me feel so much better!!!

I added some pics. Pawpaw couldn't resist stopping in.

Stupid Virus

Or I think it was a virus. I didn't really feel great over the weekend but it wasn't that bad. Monday night after dinner I felt really sick. Tuesday I was fine during the day I just was careful about what I ate. I even made myself go to church. I should have stayed home. I was sick to my stomach and just wanted to lay down. Tuesday night I came home and felt horrible. My stomach was cramping up every little bit during the night. So that makes for some restless sleep. I was suppose to work yesterday but I woke up feeling tired and sick to my stomach. My wonderful dad came over and stayed with me practically all day long helping me with Ava. By helping I mean playing with her. He isn't too keen on feeding or changing diapers but he has playing down. I was so weak I lounged on the couch and in bed all day. I didn't eat enough to keep me sustained but I felt so bad the thought of food was repulsing. I had a good nights rest and I feel so much better today. I just ate some bland cereal so we will see if I get the green light.
Adam is off work today so I wanted him to have a good day with us. I guess I will work tomorrow if I am not sick. I am just thankful it wasn't as bad as the horror stories I have been hearing about the dreaded virus!! Now I am crossing my fingers my baby doesn't get it.

So much going on

This week I worked Thursday only. Adam is working the outage so I will probably only work one day a week from now till April sometime. I am actually disappointed....wow does that sound lame? I enjoy getting dressed in something other than casual clothes and interacting with adults. It gives me a much needed break. Oh well.

So this morning I am letting Adam get so much needed rest and I have been up with Ava since 7. She is in full play mode right now. I have so much to do that it was hard going to sleep last night. My mind was just going crazy!! I am planning Ava's birthday party and YES I am over analyzing every detail. :) I have her outfit, the cake ordered and the invitations ordered. I have so much left to do though. Aside from that I am redoing the bedroom so I need to be ordering a mattress, getting my comforter, and painting. Yeah, all this needs to be done in 3-4 weeks before the furniture comes in. I guess I will be painting myself because Adam doesn't have the time off. That doesn't bother me. I love to paint....I know I am weird.
OK, so then I have the thought of Easter lurking in the back of my mind too. I need to buy all 3 of us outfits. Adam's mom bought Ava a dress that I might let her wear if I can find me and Adam stuff to coordinate. Wait.....I am not even sure Adam is off Easter. I need to check on that.

Yesterday I remembered about Ava's 1 year pictures. Thankfully I remember and emailed the photographer. We will also have her 1 year Dr. appt. to go to between now and then.

Tonight I am going to Shogun with some friends. I am sooooo excited!!!! I am looking forward to a nice dinner that I can fully enjoy. We will probably do some shopping too. Maybe I can talk them into letting me get some errands done.....like checking out mattresses....LOL

I finished a book.....

The first real book I have read since Ava was born. Aside from the book I read on our vacation to St. Croix. That doesn't really count because I can read a ton at the beach with no kid. It was empowering to accomplish that. I know it sounds very stupid but since her arrival things are sooo different for me. I was used to enjoying books, vacations, silent dinners, long showers (longer than 5 minutes now), etc. Don't get me wrong she is is a blessing and I love her to death but life sure does change with a child. Now it took me a few weeks to finish it but I did it.
I love to read. I love letting my mind get so caught up in a book that I forget the world....well that is until Ava hits my knee with a McDonald's penguin and I realize she needs me. :)
OH well I am excited about lots of books to come. I have a list of books I would like to read. Any suggestions....let them be known!

On another note we are enjoying time with Adam these last couple days. He starts working an outage this week so that means lots of hours at work and little time for us. These only occur usually twice a year so thats ok....part of the job (which we are so thankful for). The good thing about it is I think I am finally getting a new bedroom suite. We have been talking about it for years but just never broke down and bought one. I am very excited!!!! I think we might go to Dogtown today to look.

Ava turns 11 months and our trip to ATL

In pawpaws boots :)

Walking with some help

Giving Gabriel some love

Sunday afternoon we packed up and headed to Atlanta to see our new nephew, Gabriel Andrew. Monday we went over to Uncle Andy's and Aunt Rachel's house to see the new member of our family. He was sleeping so good. We stood at his crib and admired him. He is so tiny. Its hard to remember those days even though they were almost a year ago. We took some pictures and oohed and awed. Ava didn't really know what to think of him. she was sweet with him though. Tuesday we met Aunt April, Mackenzie and Shelby at Chick-Fil-A for a great breakfast. I had never been to a dwarf house. It was super neat! We had a great day of shopping. I went to a store that I fell in love with!!!!!!! Lets just say its a good thing everyone was waiting on me or I could have spent hours in there :) Ava had a blast with her cousins. We had a great dinner that night with the family. Ava got to spend some time with her great grandpa and actually let him hold her. She usually cries when she is around him. Today we got up and spent some time with Nana and went to my favorite Mexican place for lunch. We are headed back home now.

Oh and Ava turned 11 months yesterday. I took some pics. Her one year birthay is sneaking up on us.

UAH Shooting

I wanted to post this morning because I am devastated over the recent shooting at UAH. I know it sounds so cliche but I just didn't think it would happen so close to home. I attended UAH for 2 years and I LOVE that school. I always felt so safe there!! I guess all of these acts of violence are just signs of the time we are living in. Its so scary though! My heart goes out to the victim's family. I understand so far 3 faculty members are dead and 3 are injured. The shooter was an actual faculty member that didn't get tenure. I just can't even imagine!!
I hope and pray that God comforts those that lost their loved ones and the family of the shooter. Can you imagine how hard it would be to know your family member was responsible for multiple deaths?? So awful.